After Hours
by walkthatlonesomevalley
Summary: Near the mid-season finale of season 2, Kate finds out more about Betty's relationship with Ivan.


**This one takes place right around the mid-season finale of season 2...**

**Synopsis: Kate finds out more about Ivan and Betty's relationship.**

**Notes: Inconsistency in plots. In this story Gladys still hasn't found out about James and is therefore in a different state of mind.**

**After Hours**

Coming home at night is all they look forward to. They never speak this aloud and it's not shared knowledge, but each day the girls suffer through in hopes that maybe, sometime later, they'll actually talk to one another and spend some time alone in one room, breathing in the same air and breathing out with their fears and all the words still left unsaid.

Tonight is no different but the tension has been building. How long has it been since Betty kissed Kate and confessed her undying love? Kate didn't even know anymore. And why when Kate came back did Betty never want to bring it up? It's not like she could take it back and it's not like Kate couldn't stand to be near her. Kate made it clear that Betty was the only family she had left. Betty was the only person left in the world that she wanted to be around, that she wanted to trust with her life.

On the night Kate returned she longed for nothing short of a miracle. She longed for Betty to change the subject from all the death on her mind given her father and the fall. Thinking about it now she wonders... Was it horrible that I wanted Betty to say it again?! Only Betty cannot hear her thoughts. Betty has learned through action to take everything at face value. For Betty, there would be no more of thinking that Kate is like her. No more assumptions. Just because Kate came back and pledged her life, that doesn't mean Kate wants to be with her as a couple. What happened before was a slip, a complication. If Betty had only waited just a little bit more, perhaps Kate's father would not be dead now and perhaps Kate would be a happier person. Perhaps even she would be a happier person.

At night, in the silence, they both think of these things. Kate thinks about the coward she has become. She isn't a hero like Betty, she isn't doing God's work like her father had wanted, and she isn't even being herself. She's gone so deep into herself that she's almost lost the person she was before she left VicMu, the person who had come the closest to helping her understand what she really wanted out of life. The person that Marion could have been if she didn't have a father like Vernon. Kate is hiding and she knows it. It's all she thinks about and all she wishes she wouldn't do. She thinks about it so much that her thoughts become her, they bury her in their wake until she becomes trapped by them. She can see the person she wants to be, but that person is now a stranger to her. With time she begins to think that Kate Andrews isn't real.

While Kate kicks herself silently, Betty thinks of her own mistakes. She thinks of Kate's motives. Why does Kate trust her? Why does Kate want to stay with her, be so close, and hold her in the night. That's what has happened. At night in the room, in the dark, when they slide themselves into bed, Betty always turns away from Kate and Kate always pulls herself up to Betty and holds her until she falls asleep.

Kate herself, stays awake. There hasn't been a night since she returned that Kate fell asleep before Betty. Not one night.

After Betty drifts off to sleep, Kate touches Betty's hair and she holds her tight, and she cries long into the night allowing herself to feel for at least once in the long day.

Betty accepts Kate's need for closeness within the night because it's the one thing that she wants most in the world. Still it kills her to not understand it. How can Kate still comfort and accept her, still knowing that all this time Betty was nothing but a liar and a deviant, a wolf in sheeps clothing. Those were all Kate's words, and Betty hears them at night while Kate is holding her. She hears them alone before she drifts off to sleep. And every night it is a surprise when Kate touches her. It's a surprise if Kate kisses her cheek or holds on tight to her hands. Kindness from Kate is never expected but always accepted, and Betty feeds off it, uses the little moments as reasons to go on hoping, hoping that maybe Kate does forgive her, or maybe Kate does feel the same or maybe Kate isn't so damaged after all from all that has happened. Maybe Kate doesn't have to leave. That's the one thought that Betty cannot stop hearing deep within her. Her one thought wrapped tightly around her one fear, her fear that Kate will eventually leave her for good.

These two people, they're both broken. Kate cannot stop herself from getting into Betty's bed and Betty cannot stop herself from accepting Kate's physical affection and fearing for the end of it all. They know that they should both stop living life in this way, but they can't. Their nights are always the same and they both always drift off to sleep with heavy hearts. No matter the day or the events, they both fall asleep alone, thinking secret thoughts that they know they cannot share, least of all with one another.

One late night, something in Kate snaps and she cannot bear it anymore, this game that she has played. She can't bare that she's an imposter, or that she's weak, or that she's secretly holding her friend in the night, instead of sleeping, enjoying every bit of it and hating herself right after. Kate knows that she has to do something. She's lying to Betty every day in most of her actions. The only time she isn't lying is at night when they lay together. The only truly honest moments in her day are the ones she spends in silence with Betty. The ones where neither of them talk or look or think. The ones that Betty can't really see.

Kate knows she has to stop it. She knows that she wants to be a better person, and she wants not to toy with Betty. With little thought Kate secures her old room across the hall, thinking that this will change everything, thinking that this is the decision that could keep her from having these relapses of faith.

But still... she finds herself having excuses to rush into Betty's room. She still finds herself coming in late at night when Betty is fast asleep. Betty always leaves her door unlocked. Does she know that Kate is sneaking in? Late at night, Kate will slip into Betty's bed and hold her just like before. She'll hold her just for a little while, trying hard not to wake her. If Betty stirs she'll sing her to sleep. And as soon as she's come she'll be gone once again, making sure to leave just before dawn.

There's no stopping her habit. As much as she tries to deny her true feelings, she's a coward and she cannot stop them from taking hold of her yet again.

Betty has grown confused and cold. She doesn't see how hurt Kate is and how hard she is trying to be good and normal. Kate is certain that Betty knows nothing of her own little 'slips.'

When Betty confronts Kate right before Kate's date with Ivan, Kate is shocked. How can it be that Betty actually feels like she's the only one hurting and hiding between the two of them. Or perhaps that's not the problem. Perhaps all of this time Betty has been trying to tell Kate how she feels. But Kate already knows so what good does that serve? They had already decided to be good and find boys, live life like good christians, even though Betty doesn't truly believe. Why is Betty trying to be so "good?" Kate wonders.

When Betty took Kate to church, Kate was on the brink of crumbling. Church was the problem, church had always been the problem, not God or people, always church. That day Kate was having the fight of her life. That was the day she decided to move out. that was the day she decided that she had to STOP loving Betty.

Despite feeling that way and being so determined, when she looked at Betty her heart melted and that killed her inside, it turned her cold. That was the moment she decided that in this situation, being fake is more noble than being true. She had to save them both from themselves. But in the end she was only saving Betty. She knew deep down that she couldn't stop going into her room at night and she couldn't stop teasing Betty about her feelings, teasing her so much that it hurt. She just wanted to feel it. She just wanted to feel how much Betty loved her and it was easy to feel, with every look and every jab, with every word unsaid and every thought unsung. Kate lived off these moment, they're what kept her going on, what gave her the will to live.

To be honest, Kate even thought about suicide. But suicide would be the end all, the ultimate betrayal to her lord who had given her life and given her such a struggle. The thought would come and then it would float away on the wind, an impossibility, she could never succumb to it. Truthfully it wasn't a viable option, not for Kate.

All the while Betty ached. Not knowing what Kate was thinking. Not knowing why Kate had become cold, why Kate had become mean. Why she moved when she didn't need to, why she would hold her in the night in those weeks before her sudden departure. She hated to admit it, but Kate moving across the hall kind of felt like an end to something. And she couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong. But nothing came to her. She had no explanation.

**Part 2**

Tonight was truly different, for both of the girls. It was almost as if they had reached some imaginary crossroad, and they both knew that they were going to choose to be apart. Betty had met someone, someone unexpected, someone Kate knew little about. And Kate had been steadily dating Ivan just as Betty had done before, she was playing a role for the cameras, one in which she was the perfect picture of health and regularity with powder on her nose and a skip in her step. But tonight the cameras would break. Tonight Kate's walls would come crumbling down.

The confrontation with Kate left Betty feeling desperate for change. Here she was, attempting to open up, trying her best to be a good friend after so much had happened. In the night Betty had awoke with Kate's arms around her. She woke up in confusion, feeling a body pressed tightly to hers. For an hour she thought about waking her. She thought, maybe if they talked about it, things would be okay. But she couldn't, not again.

Kate eventually woke up, thinking as usual, that Betty hadn't felt her there or known about her night time routine of sneaking into Betty's room and holding her best friend. To Betty this was all a huge surprise.

Later in the day, Kate was especially happy given her night of cuddles and her actual success at getting some sleep. When she was getting ready for her date all she wanted was for Betty to see how happy she was, to see that their plan was working for them, at least in a small way.

When Betty exploded about Kate finding another person to dance with, she was thinking only about the events in the night. The fact that for some time Kate had obviously been getting comfort from her while she was deep in her sleep, just as she had done for weeks before her sudden change of heart, her sudden move across the hall, aggravated her more than ever. For once Betty actually felt like Kate was playing games with her, and she really didn't like it. How was it fair for Kate to get physical comfort from her when she knew nothing about it. Betty felt entirely used and somewhat betrayed. Kate had shot a burning arrow into the makeshift dam that was holding Betty's sanity at bay.

So, for Betty, the change came swiftly. Kate would have another date with Ivan tonight and Betty did not want to spend another night thinking about Kate, not after all she had put her through. Tonight would be different for her, and she had decided this before she even left her room.

McRae, for once, knew that she had choices. An intriguing offer had come her way earlier in the week. Someone had actually offered her "happiness." At the time Betty scoffed. But then her semi-irrational outburst with Kate, made her think. Betty wasn't happy and she did very much want to be.

In a way, this offer was like an awakening for Betty. For once she remembered how she used to be before Kate Andrews. No one had ever been so bold with Betty, and here came Teresa wearing her heart on her sleeve much like Vera. Betty couldn't help but want to see this out. When she thought about it in the night, she found herself feeling foolish. Why was she even entertaining these thoughts? But then, in the day, she hated herself. Why wasn't she entertaining these thoughts? Her feelings for Kate were definitely holding her back. If Betty had never of met Kate she would already be in the arms of this woman.

Teresa was easy to track down after Betty made her decision. The bond agent was a busy bee, she worked most of the daylight hours, and was still at the factory for Betty to fetch her. Teresa looked lonely but also stunning. When Betty arrived before her, the bundle of nerves that she was, Teresa instantly wanted to hug her but she refrained from doing so. The blonde was obviously going through a breakup and Teresa felt foolish even baiting her in such a state but she also lived by the code of happiness, the code that constantly reminds her that she only lives once. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't hear news of more dead soldiers, and more lost loved ones. All Teresa wanted was to love and be loved, that's all she ever wanted now because she knew life could be terribly short and she didn't want to leave this place unhappy.

With Betty longing for a change and Teresa on fire with the burning passion that can only come from the want to live, the couple lost themselves in one another. They were both so happy that they laughed and cried and laughed again until they felt so relaxed that nothing could break their moods. Teresa could tell that Betty was new at everything and Betty could tell that Teresa very much wasn't. There was no animosity or judgement, no awkward sadness or bumping of heads. The two women fell into each other as if they were meant to be together, as if the world was pushing them together in some non-obtrusive way.

While Betty was investigating the different levels of her obvious attraction to the female sex, Kate Andrews was down in the dumps, head in the gutter, not able to shake the thoughts she was having about a certain blonde-headed friend. Ivan Buchinsky was trying to seem a gentleman but if there was one thing that Ivan couldn't take it was the way these two broads were preoccupied with one another.

Ivan brought Kate out to have a fine meal at the diner. He dressed in his best and held her hand all the way there but as soon as they sat down he realized that tonight would be another one of those bad nights. One of those nights where Kate won't shut-up about Betty no matter how charming he can be, or how comforting and gentle. She didn't even notice how happy he was. He had taken her coat and ran it over to the rack by the door. He was so excited to please her that it really hurt him when he finally sat down and noticed that look about her. Kate always gets that look. It's the same look that Betty used to get when she was thinking about Kate. Ivan remembers that look and boy does he hate it.

"Do you think, she hates me? Was it something I said."

"No way doll, you're her best girl! It's me she hates, believe me." Though it was just beginning, Ivan was so over this conversation. For him, it seemed to be running on forever, for days and weeks and months! What was with these broads?! They were obsessed with each other. He was beginning to wonder why they even went out with him at all. Then he remembered how far Betty went with him and what that was all about, he really couldn't wrap his head around it. He must've offended her that night but he couldn't see how, no matter how many times he ran it through his mind and remembered his own pleasure and the way in which he tried desperately to please Betty. He had thought it had all gone smoothly. It wasn't his first time. He knew how to be gentle, his dad had taught him that when he was young, told him some girls need to be loved. Ivan was thinking about it so much that he almost forgot that Kate was talking to him now. I guess he couldn't blame her anymore for being so obsessed with Betty McRae. He had loved the girl before the fall out. He knew what it was like to love a crazy stubborn girl like McRae. Betty McRae must hate him. It was the only thing he could think about most days. He suddenly felt terrible for having such negative thoughts about Kate. He kept having to remind himself that Kate and Betty were different.

"Don't be silly. Betty doesn't hate you." Something Ivan had said absentmindedly sure snapped Kate out of her depressed stupor.

"Sure she does." Ivan said, taking a long bitter drink from his flask. If Kate was going to wallow all night, he may as well join in on the pity party.

"Why would you say that?" Kate asked, angry at the thought, let alone his bitterness.

"If I tell you something do you promise not to tell anyone?" Kate said yes, but she really knew she was no good with secrets. Ivan leaned in to her with an intrigued look on his face.

"I don't know how close you gals are... Or how much she might've told you about us... but... We made it that night."

"Made it?" What could they have possibly made. What was Ivan talking about?

"Yeah... we... you know..." Ivan raised his eyebrows and Kate felt suddenly and completely nauseous, she leaned over the table and heaved a few dry breaths.

"Sweetie! SWEEtie! You alright, dollface?" Ivan leaned out of the booth to catch a glimpse of her face, she did look ill.

"Yeah..." Kate gasped, her eyes somewhere empty. They had flooded with tears but they all just hovered there, unable to leak out. How could Betty have done that?! Why would Betty do that?! Even if she had loved him, Kate never thought that Betty would go all the way before marriage, she wasn't like all these other girls, she wasn't like Gladys.

"I know it's a shock... Imagine how I felt." Ivan said, leaning back again, allowing Kate to go through her own series of emotions.

"How did you feel?" Kate asked instinctively, not knowing why she had asked it. Her doe eyes seemed to peer into him and he felt shy all of a sudden. What an odd question for a girl to ask. She wants to know how he "felt" while he was making it with her best friend?! Ivan was shocked in a way.

"Well, when? It depends... In the car-"

"Car?! Wait.. Betty..." Kate gasped again, her heart racing, her stomach charging up to her chest making it hard for her to breathe or swallow or swim. "In a car? What's wrong with you!?"

"Hey! What would you have done?! We were going together for months."

"Three!" Kate yelled through her teeth, one hand on her bag. "What kind of girl do you think she is?!" Rage took hold of her, she was no longer the prim little girl she had tried so hard to become, all of Ivan's sake.

"What?!" Ivan was confused. Was Kate mad at him now? What the hell for?! "I loved Betty." He mentioned sadly. More than anything, he just wanted to understand. He didn't want to her hurt but she had sure as hell hurt him.

"Yeah well, me too. I loved Betty more than you ever did and now I know that." Kate said before drinking half of her water, gulp after gulp.

"What the hell are you talking about Andrews?!" Putting the water down hard on the table, something occurred to her, something she never thought about until this very moment.

"You're not dating me to get closer to her, are you?!" An epiphany!

"No!" Ivan said, flustered. "But I thought that maybe..." Ivan said this and he couldn't help but look like a little boy.

"You thought what?!" Kate asked, forcing him to finish. They were both still sitting down at a booth in the diner but they had gone through all sorts of movements, practically petting the table, then hitting it, then hiding under it, then holding it firmly by the edges. Kate was holding her stomach now, the table as far from her as she could get it. "I thought maybe you were seeing me just to get at her. You know, like girls do."

"What do you take me for?! She's my best friend!" Kate said, feeling insulted. She was always the last one to think these things and she was beginning to feel like a child.

"I take you for a fickle broad, just like your little friend. She used me, then she dumped me."

"She liked you. She trusted you! Then you took advantage of her... IN A CAR! And now this..." Kate looked down at her half eaten milkshake and she wanted to expel it from her, to disappear off to the bathroom and never come back to this table. She was certain she could find a way home but all of that would be too good for Ivan.

"She didn't like me. No one who liked me could do what she did."

"All she did was like you. It sounds to me like you took something from her. Something she wasn't ready to give. Something she could never take back..." Kate was suddenly so very angry that words couldn't help her. "I... I've got to go. Don't wait for me and don't talk to me!" She shouted, and Ivan grabbed at her bag as she pulled it up over the table. She pulled back harder and ran herself off to the bathroom, knocking over a tray filled with drinks.

"Kate! Wait!" Ivan screamed, running after her briefly before being tackled by the tray. "AHHH!" He screamed, scrambling to pick up the glasses that weren't even his. "WOMEN!" To Ivan they were all barking mad, and he was beginning to feel infected! It didn't take him long to flee the scene, he was growing rather tired of being treated like a bad guy.

In the bathroom Kate rushed to a stall and let herself throw up. She hadn't eaten anything, just the water, but sickness was in her and she wanted it to be gone. After several minutes she gave up, the tears had streaked themselves down her face and she looked an awful mess. She tried to clean herself up but the towels and soap only did so much.

When she left the bathroom Ivan had gone. She asked to use the telephone and shakily spoke when someone picked up.

"Gladys... it's me... Can you come get me?" Gladys was looking for a way out of her current situation. Kate's shaky voice was all the excuse she needed.

"I've got to go mother, my friend's in trouble."

"Which friend is this?" Adele asked.

"The quiet one. Kate Andrews. The one who lost her father recently."

"Poor child. Take your father's car, he'll be in all night anyway, dealing with all of this." Her mother said, motioning to the heaps of current newspaper print thrown about the living room. The Withams had suddenly been enveloped in a scandal. It was something that kept them all on edge. Gladys knew there was nothing she could do to keep her parents from the trouble they were constantly helping to create, so she hated evenings like this one where they insisted that she help her family cover up their wrong doings. She wanted nothing to do with it. But she was, by default, a Witham, so it did always affect her in some way when scandals like this one broke out into the media.

Kate sat back down at a booth by a corner. It wasn't late yet, so the place was packed. She held herself tightly around the waist and ordered a soda so she wouldn't get kicked out. When Gladys arrived Kate was over the moon.

"Gladys!"

"Kate!" Gladys said, hugging her tightly out of habit. Even Though this was probably a bad situation for Kate, Gladys couldn't help but be happy to see her friend. "Are you alright?!"

"Yes... well... no." Kate said, scooting back into the booth, her happiness receding rapidly. Gladys took her fur coat off and shoved it on the seat. She wasn't sure if Kate just wanted a ride or if she wanted to talk so she kept her jacket on and now felt silly for doing so in the first place.

"What's the matter? I mean, don't get me wrong, you did save me from a dismal evening but I do hope that you're alright." Gladys waved a waitress down, everything came naturally to her. Kate looked on feeling sicker now that her friend had arrived to comfort her.

"I..." Kate started. "I was going to call Betty but..."

"But?" Gladys asked, leaning in with a smile. She was holding Kate's hand on the table, not scared at all about appearances or what others may think. Kate pulled her hand away and Gladys frowned down at it, unsure of how to feel.

"Did... Did I do something Kate? You're not upset with me are you?"

"No... well. I thought. For a second I thought you were with Betty tonight."

"With Betty?" Gladys asked, confused. "I'm always with Betty."

"No. Well. In her room. I thought you were with her tonight."

"Well, what if I had been?"

"When I called, I wasn't actually expecting you to pick up."

"Kate... I'm not sure what you're trying to say but could you please just say it, you're making me very worried." Gladys seemed to be pushing the table away from her in her worry. Her once happy face was now boldly serious. Kate looked at it and gulped. The waitress dropped a drink in front of Gladys who didn't so much as blink.

"I heard laughing in Betty's room but it wasn't you..." Kate said, finally.

"Oh...?" Gladys said, a smirk forming on her face. "Is that all?" Gladys poured cream into her coffee with a look of intrigue dancing across her beautiful face. The coffee tasted sweet and she liked it!

"No Gladys. You don't understand. It was a girl. She was laughing with a girl." Kate was the serious one now but Gladys busted up laughing, she couldn't help it.

"Well thank the Gods!" Gladys joked, unaware of how hurt Kate was actually feeling at the moment. Kate stopped herself from staring at Glady's cleavage in that dress. She looked magnificent and it only lead to Kate feeling more ashamed about her own appearance. "That is what you wanted right? I thought you wanted Betty to find happiness..." Gladys began to fan herself with her napkin. She noticed Kate's eyes as they dipped down to the gap in her dress right over her chest. She was sweating profusely all of a sudden. She took to patting at her chest with the napkin, If Kate Andrews noticed she must be unseemly. Her laughter had turned into a fit of overheating. She knew that coffee was a bad idea but it just tasted so good she just couldn't help herself sometimes.

"Yes. Well... That..." Kate said, her stomach crawling and twisting.

"Kate..." Gladys said, surprising Kate by taking her hand again and not allowing her to pull away. "Are you still in love with her?" Kate didn't know what to say.

"I..." Is all she could squeeze out before the diner door opened and two women stepped through the doors. One of them was Betty and the other, Kate recognized as the Bond Agent from the factory. Gladys took one look at them and quickly looked back at Kate who retreated from her quickly, slowly nodding a melancholy nod of agreement to Gladys's question. Glady's smirk turned into a fully flushed smile, one that took over her whole face and spread itself into her chest, making her appear a lush when she hadn't even touched a drop of gin.

"Betty!" Gladys said, standing up suddenly and hugging her blonde-headed friend more intimately than she had hugged Kate. She breathed Betty in and Kate watched, a flush attacking her as well.

"Hey princess!" Betty said happily, she noticed Glady's coloring and the way in which the fancy woman draped herself over her like a blanket, not wanting to let her go. Then she noticed Kate and felt instantly guilty about everything that had gone on between them. "Kate." Betty said, sending a penitent nod of hello to the red-head who was shrinking from her, which was a sight that she very much disliked. Teresa stood back from them all feeling awkward but not at all unwelcome. She knew what it was like to have friends like these. She missed it.

"Evening." She said shortly, like her father would if this was his situation. Kate looked Teresa up and down and quickly scowled, turning her head.

"Yeah..." She said gruffly, verbalizing her displeasure so that everyone would hear it. Teresa furrowed her brows for a split second but she wanted to ignore the unearned hostility. Whatever was happening now, it really couldn't be about her. No one knew what she had just done, she was quite sure of that.

"Mind if we join you?" Betty asked.

"Please!" Gladys said quickly, pulling Betty into the seat next to her and shooting a look at Kate that was almost threatening.

"Fine." Kate said, scooting over reluctantly. She purposefully left a large space between her and the wall so that Teresa would be uncomfortable but Teresa didn't seem to care or notice so eventually Kate ended up with her hip to the wall, not wanting to touch this woman who was obviously taking her place in Betty's heart.

"What're you girls up to?" Betty asked. She looked to Kate across the table and noticed that she had obviously been crying. Something struck her suddenly and she hated not knowing. "Kate! You've been crying... Was it Ivan? Did he-"

"No!" Kate shouted a little louder than necessary. "It's nothing, I'm fine. We just got in a fight."

"A fight?" Betty said, not believing what she was hearing. Kate stirred her drink for no reason and Betty watched on, smiling at Teresa while she sipped.

"He just told me something... Something about you... Something I didn't know."

"Something about me?!" Betty said, anger bubbling up inside of her. She looked to Teresa quickly to try and ease her mind but Teresa was all the way across the table, and no help to her in this situation. Teresa smiled a soft apologetic smile. She knew little about Betty and she was really never shy about that.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know Ivan?!" She said, to try and break the ice.

"Yes!" Kate and Gladys exclaimed together, not thinking. Gladys was holding Kate's hand again and Betty was staring down at their hands wanting to know all of what was happening. Whatever had happened it was bad if Kate actually called Gladys to her rescue. A waitress popped over quickly and took a new drink order before disappearing again.

"I've got to use the little girl's room." Teresa said briefly before disappearing as well. She didn't really have to go to the bathroom, she just knew that her absence might clear the air a little. Betty took this as her cue to get up and join Kate's side.

"What happened Kate?! What exactly did he tell you?"

"Oh.. I don't know if you want me to say it here."

"You really think whatever it is I wouldn't tell Gladys?!" The blond looked over at the brunette and Gladys smiled sweetly. A warm exchange that made them both feel a little more at ease with Kate's upcoming news.

"Well.. You didn't tell me..." Kate said, giving Betty a straight look of near contempt. Gladys looked on at the both of them half-concerned half-intrigued. She was leaning in on the table, her coffee steaming in her hand. This was like dinner theater.

"Well..." Betty said, she realized that she had been holding Kate's arm out of habit. Kate had looked down and Betty dropped her hands ashamed.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered, moving back to her seat. She was instantly regretting her decision to grab a bite to eat. If they had never left the room, Betty would still be happy but now it was all a big mess again. Now she was all mixed up and thinking about Kate just as before. Betty ignored Kate's eyes for a good long while and Teresa returned to the table to notice a very uncomfortable air in the room. Her plan had backfired and things were actually stranger now than they were before.

"Did I miss something?!" She asked, smirking at Gladys who rolled her eyes playfully, and then at Betty who refused to make eye contact. Betty was on the verge of tears and Kate was staring at her constantly, thinking about all that Ivan had said and all that Betty didn't tell her about him. Kate looked like she was going to cry and Betty really didn't understand why. She hated being in the dark about Kate's emotions and that's all that was happening, all the time. Betty jumped up and grabbed Teresa, reaching in her pocket and throwing a few coins onto the table.

"Come on Teresa... I don't like it here." Teresa was confused but she got up quickly. The drinks quickly followed. "Sorry Gladys," Betty said shortly before walking out the door, Teresa in tow. In just a matter of seconds Kate had infected her with her problems. What a fool Betty was to think this would be easy. Kate wanted to grab after Betty but she knew that she had missed her opportunity to speak yet again. She really didn't feel comfortable telling Gladys about Betty's dalliance. It just wasn't her news to tell.

Gladys was shocked. "You sure know how to throw a party." She said shortly to Kate.

"They had sex." Kate said instantly without hesitation. What she had meant to say just moments ago but couldn't, now came bowling out of her mouth as natural as common pleasantries.

"Who?!" Gladys scoffed, wiping a napkin across her chin. This was the last thing she was expecting to hear.

"Betty and Ivan."

"How do you know?!" Gladys asked in shock. She couldn't help but feel a tight pang of anger. Gladys knew that Betty was only interested in Ivan for appearances. She could tell by how they acted around one another on their dates, and how she spoke to him like a pal.

"He told me. Tonight. He said it happened in a car."

"Well..." Gladys said, trying to find some way to cushion the blow, "Can't say I haven't done the same..." She decided to say. Her mind tried not to picture it but all she could see was an innocent Betty allowing Ivan Buchinsky to use her like a puppet. Betty is a strong girl but she couldn't see her acting strong in that situation. She must've just gotten tired, Gladys thought.

"Don't Gladys." Kate said, angrily.

"Why are you so upset, it's just sex." Kate's eyebrows moved down her face and she was fighting off tears.

"She didn't want to Gladys. I know she didn't want to."

"Betty wouldn't do anything she didn't want to do, now you know that as well as I do. Come on Kate, what's all this about?" Gladys knew what it was about. Kate loved Betty. She loved Betty even more than Gladys loved Betty herself. The thought of Betty losing her virginity to a boy in a car, it made Glady's blood boil. A girl like Betty, she needs to be treated delicately.

"She broke up with him right after. He used her."

"But he wanted her. You can't call that using someone. If that's how it works I've used a hell of a lot of people!"

"Gladys..." Kate said, looking down at her hands. "I think I'm in love with her..." This was the most honesty Gladys had heard from Kate since before she ran away. Gladys got up and moved to Kate's side of the bench, taking Kate in her arms swiftly. Kate began to cry out of desperation, she really had no clue what to do with herself, she couldn't pretend anymore.

"I know sweetie..." She whispered tiredly, kissing her forehead and taking her hand. "I know..." Gladys held her there for a while. They stayed quietly for three rounds of slow drinks, never needing to speak. And they finally left after last call, Gladys taking Kate's hand and practically carrying her to the car.

Betty's night went differently. After the diner, Betty took Teresa to a similar place. Smaller, less comfortable, with hot food and warm drinks. Teresa was shocked by the whole encounter at the diner. Betty's friends were all so close to her, and something must've happened while she was in the bathroom. she couldn't help but feel that her presence was a burden tonight.

"I'm sorry about your friend. I know you two are close. We didn't have to go to the diner, you know."

"I had no idea she would be there. She never told me where they were going." Betty said shortly, angrily.

"It's not your fault..." Teresa said, trying to ease the tension she was feeling. "You know, you didn't have to take me out. I would've been fine just staying in the room." Teresa smiled, taking a bite of a salad that had just arrived at the table. Betty smiled back at her. Remembering what t felt like in the room made her blush

"I know." She said, happily. "My friends... they're just..."

"Complicated." Teresa said, ending her sentence. "I get it." Teresa filled a fork full of salad and held it over the table for Betty to try. Betty loved the salad, and it felt so completely different to be treated tenderly by another person without having to also feel ashamed or confused.

"What do you think he said about you?" Teresa asked, breaking the peaceful mood.

"Can we not.." Betty asked. "I just... I'm really trying not to think about her right now."

"I hope it's not too hard." Teresa said, smirking again.

"It really wasn't, not until that just now." Betty confessed.

"Well, I can't really blame you. We all have our pasts. We can talk about it if you want to. OR we can talk about something else." Teresa said optimistically. Betty couldn't help but smile. Somehow Teresa was making it all seem trivial, and Betty loved her for it. Remembering the past few hours in the room and how Teresa had kissed her and held her and done things that she had never imagined, things that set her body on fire and relaxed her into feeling that she could die now, a happy person, Betty felt so fondly towards Teresa.

The dinner was delicious and romantic. Betty wasn't scared of other people knowing what had happened, or ashamed of what she had done in her room with this beautiful woman. If anything Betty felt peaceful about it all. It wasn't until Teresa had left her that she actually began to feel troubled. Heading to her room alone in the boarding house she had regrets about leaving Gladys and sadness about leaving Kate. How could it be that Kate was actually in charge of her. Kate didn't even want her but here she was obsessing about Kate's moods after a wonderful night with an entirely different person.

The boarding house was quiet but others were drifting in late like her. She waited outside for a moment to smoke a cigarette and listen to the crickets. She actually enjoyed the nighttime and the darkness. People looked different at night. Betty sat down, her back on the building and she indulged in another cigarette, smoking this one slower, quietly greeting the women who were coming home one by one from their dates and parties.

When she was almost finished with her third cigarette, she saw the packard arrive. Gladys parked in front of the gate and came running around to the passenger door to help Kate out. The girls hadn't had any alcohol but Gladys was holding Kate up as if she were drunk and Betty was watching from the door, standing up now to greet them wearily. When they got to the door Betty looked down at Kate.

"You okay, sunshine?" She asked, blowing smoke away from Kate and looking her in the eye just like she used to, without the confusion or the awkwardness or the air of already knowing. Kate just shook her head sadly, as if to say that she wasn't. "You can sleep in my bed tonight." Betty said to Kate's back, as Kate walked slowly away from her in her own wordless haze. "What's wrong with her?" Betty asked, handing her cigarette off to Gladys who took it willingly. They both turned instinctively and sat down against the wall together, Betty lighting another cigarette and rubbing her hands together to ward off the cold.

"Ivan told her that you two had some fun in a car."

"Christ!" Betty shouted angrily. "Who does he think he is?! Going around telling all my good friends how far we took it?! That's a crime!" Gladys smiled, exhaling slowly. Betty's anger was sexy but Betty didn't know that. Gladys tugged at Betty's collar playfully to calm her down.

"She's all torn up Betts..." Betty felt a pang of guilt, knowing that somehow her relations with Ivan had hurt Kate deeply. Gladys was speaking through her cigarette, her hands busy, buttoning Betty's top until she looked dignified for no reason at all.

"But why? Why would she care if I did something with Ivan." Betty asked, frustrated.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Gladys already knew the answer.

"I didn't want to make things hard for Kate. I never wanted to make things hard for her." Ivan happened because she was gone, he never would've happened if she hadn't of left.

"Hard?" Gladys asked, a small laugh escaping her. "Silly blonde..." Gladys put her arm around Betty and lay herself back against the wall. "She loves you, you know..." The words escaped her quickly.

"I-..." Betty began to speak but then stopped herself. "I don't know anything, Princess."

"She told me." Gladys said simply. She was tired of their drama and the way they were both hurting each other. She wanted them to be happy and she knew that they couldn't get there on their own. Theirs was a complicated situation.

"Must've been the alcohol?" Betty asked more than stated. Gladys's words caught her off guard.

"No. No alcohol tonight. Just sadness." Gladys went on. "It was all over her face. She knows that Ivan hurt you, that he took something from you, something that you weren't ready to give."

"Wh..." Betty tried to think about it but she didn't want to. Gladys made sure to repeat Kate's exact words. If they needed her to be a translator, she was sure as hell going to oblige.

"She told me, tonight, that she thinks she's in love with you." Betty took in these words and stood up slowly, grateful to Gladys for indulging in their drama.

"Yeah, well... It'd be nice if she actually knew..." Is all Betty said. Gladys looked to her and gave her a strong hug.

"I know." She said into the blonde's ear, throwing her cigarette down at the ground. It was about time she headed home.

"You better get going. I'm sure your parents are up in arms as we speak with all that stuff in the papers today." Betty smiled, sending a fake slow punch to Gladys's side.

"HA! You know better than anyone! Can you believe they bought out the whole city?!"

"Not before I got a copy." Betty said, knowingly, a smile playing across her face. In the cold night her cheeks glowed red and Gladys loved the sight of her.

"See you in the morning." Gladys said happily. Her friends did provide the perfect distraction. She hadn't thought about the scandal that whole time she was comforting Kate.

"Later Princess." Betty said simply. Throwing down her cigarette and snuffing out the both of them before turning to go. Gladys rode home in a grateful mood and arrived to find her mother and father asleep in their chairs, papers strewn about them and empty glasses surrounding their work center. She took to cleaning the mess and investigating the stories in peace. It would be a long night but she was grateful to everyone.

Betty sauntered into her room with a heavy heart, not knowing what to say to Kate or how to act. She wasn't expecting Kate to have taken her up on her offer but when she peaked in Kate's room the bed was made and there was no water running, just an empty space that Kate hadn't visited since before her date with Ivan. Breathing in deeply, she entered her own room, closing the door behind her and hoping with all hope that tonight would end pleasantly for once, instead of in tears and sadness.

"Thought you might sleep in my room tonight." Kate said instantly.

"Why would I do that?"

"To give me space." Kate said. Betty wasn't sure what she meant by this but then she remembered how she had snapped earlier.

"Kate... I'm sorry I got angry with you earlier. I was mad at myself really. I still have feelings for you."

"I know..." Kate said, hugging Betty's pillow, refusing to look at her friend. Betty had said what she had been meaning to say for months but somehow it still felt like she hadn't said enough. She took off her jacket and began to undress. Kate listened and she knew what was happening.

"If you know, then why are you so hurt by what Ivan said?" Betty asked, grasping at straws.

"It's not what he said Betty... It's what he did..." Kate sat up quickly and turned to face the blonde woman who was now just in her undergarments.

"Kate..." Betty said, turning from her, embarrassed.

"No Betty. Come here." Kate said, refusing to turn away. Betty was somewhat mortified but she turned slowly and walked to Kate as if being led by the hand of destiny. She couldn't help but feel like a child in this moment. The way she felt with Kate was very different than the way she felt with Teresa. She held her hand out as she walked and Kate grabbed it and pulled Betty to sit on the bed in front of her.

"Why did you let him touch you like that." Kate asked honestly, not ashamed of how she was feeling, not concerned with her unnatural urges or the way in which she wanted Betty to be in her arms at this very moment. The whole time Betty was outside she had just been waiting and hoping that Betty would come into her room and hold her without words.

"I..." Betty started, "I don't know why I did it... I thought... I thought maybe if I tried it, I might like it, then maybe I wouldn't have a problem..." Betty spoke honestly, the words drifting out of her as if Kate had poisoned her with a truth serum. Kate pulled Betty's hand inward and placed it on the side of her own hip so that Betty would feel her, then she scooted herself up so that her body and her face were closer to Betty's, so that she could lean her forehead down right onto Betty's and smell Betty's hair and feel Betty's skin on her face, feel her breath on her cheek.

"Did it work?" Kate asked simply, allowing her hand to run down Betty's arm from her naked shoulder to the top of her hand where she grasped at Betty's hand with her own and tucked her head down to the side of Betty's face to rest her own head on Betty's shoulder. Betty couldn't help her own reactions, she took the hand that was on Kate's hip and slid it around Kate's back until she was holding Kate quite comfortably.

"What do you think?!" Betty said, a smile dancing across her face. Kate didn't want to move. Her stomach was glowing with butterflies and she felt her heart speed up in her chest.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kate asked, leaning back, lifting Betty's head with a hand under her chin.

"I didn't know how..." Was all Betty could get out, before tears ran down her face and she turned away, suddenly ashamed of her clothes or lack there of.

"Don't cry... please." Kate said, laying back down onto the bed. Betty made a movement to go and find a nightgown but Kate sighed loudly. "Lay down Betty. It's time to sleep."

"Don't you want me to put on-"

"No." Kate said, sitting up again, this time on her hands. "Just come to bed. We can talk in the morning." Betty walked to her slowly.

"Kate... We have work in the morning. You know as well as I do, there will be no talking in the morning."

"Maybe that's okay for now?" Kate asked, still thinking about Betty and what she had done for Ivan. She reached a hand out to Betty and Betty took it, tucking herself into bed and rolling away from Kate, making sure not to touch the length of her body. Her efforts were fruitless. The second Betty stopped moving Kate moved her whole body towards her so that she was hugging her from behind, her face in Betty's hair and her arm around Bettys stomach.

"Kate..." Betty said, feeling sad in her arms. Everything that had happened with Teresa seemed so far away from her now. Kate hugged Betty tighter.

"He shouldn't have touched you..." Is all that she said. And Betty remembered what happened with Ivan, how she had let him sleep with her because she was guilty for using him in such an awful way.

"I used him..." Betty said, a tear falling down her nose. She didn't want to think about these things and she hated that Kate knew it all now.

"It doesn't matter." Kate said slowly. "I'm sorry I-" she hesitated. "I didn't know." Is all that she said. Kate brushed the side of Betty's face, tucking the blond locks away from her face. Whatever was happening now, it was confusing things even more in Betty's mind. Kate felt so very safe with Betty beneath her but she could feel the apprehension in her soft friend. So she began to sing a song, a song to ease her mind and rock Betty off to sleep. She sang the song slower than usual and her voice was so beautiful, it wasn't shaky at all, not like it had been before in the days after her father had died.

"You better go now... Because I like you much too much... You have a way with you... You ought to know now, just why I like you very much. The night was gay with you... There's the moon above and it gives my heart a lot of swing.. In your eyes there's love. And the way I feel it must be spring. I want you so now... You have the lips I love to touch, you better go now... You better go because I like you much too much..." Kate hugged Betty closer to her and Betty couldn't help but smile. The words to the song were so romantic that Kate couldn't be thinking about anything other than those words while she was holding Betty. Betty felt at once at home in her arms and she relaxed sweetly, smelling Kate's hair as Kate continued to hum along to the song in her head taking turns between rubbing Betty's stomach and brushing her hand across Betty's face, smelling her hair, and touching her lips with her fingers. Everything about Betty felt like home and she loved her.

"Careful red... I could get used to this..." Betty whispered.

"Me too..." Kate said softly, resting her head on the pillow, burying her nose in Betty's hair.

"I was mad at you, ya know..." Betty said with a tinge of bitterness. She was thinking about the night before and waking up to Kate's arms around her.

"Why?" Kate wondered, openly.

"I woke... in the night. and you were holding me just like this." Kate tried to pull her hand away from Betty's stomach but Betty caught it at her waist and pulled her arm back around. She wanted for Kate to know that it wasn't the touching that angered her.

"I-... I'm sorry... Does it hurt you?" Kate wasn't sure which part was more wrong. Was it wrong to be holding her at all or wrong to be holding her while she was asleep?

"No. It never hurts when you touch me. I..." Betty paused and then smiled and decided to speak truthfully. "I- always- want you to touch me." She realized instantly that those words were something she could never deny or take back, should Kate hate them.

"Oh..." Kate said, mulling it over. She smiled, happy with that answer. "Why then.. Why did I anger you?" She wondered innocently.

"You were holding me in the night when I was asleep." Betty gulped, pushing herself back into Kate and feeling her warmth fully. Kate glowed with her touch, her nipples stiffening and hairs standing up on her arms.

"Do you even know how many times I wanted to hold you in the night or be held by you?! How many times I wished you were holding me just like this before I drifted off to sleep?" Kate felt nervous, Betty's words were affecting her much more than her touch. She sat up slightly folding one of her legs in under the other so that she could rest on her knee. Betty stayed where she was, convinced that she should finish. "I always want this..." She said, sadly, laying in the same place, scared to move.

"I guess... I do too..." Kate said... "I.. well. I tried not to. Not to want this." Kate continued, Betty turned to look at her. Kate's face was glowing in the night and her hair was down, hiding her face.

"Am I that awful?!" Betty asked, jokingly.

"You know what I mean..." Kate smiled, "I thought. I thought we both decided that this was wrong. Only.. I didn't change anything. When I wanted to hold you, I came in at night and I did hold you. Like a coward..." Kate confessed sadly. Betty sat up and turned to her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Betty asked, both insulted and intrigued. "How... how many times have you done that?!" She asked awkwardly, not really expecting Kate to have an answer. Despite her anger she was more than flattered. She would never of had the guts to do that to Kate, not even once.

"Often..." Kate confessed. "It was almost every night for a while. That's why I moved..."

"Christ!" Betty said, jumping back from the bed. She forgot that she had been in her underwear and she suddenly remembered again and felt embarrassed. Kate got up off the bed and walked over to her, blocking her way to the closet. She was suddenly just beginning to realize that what she had done was really a secret, it was kind of wrong.

"You're so cute when you're angry... has anyone ever told you that?" Kate asked, her arms out in front of her, as if to shield a blow or push Betty away if she were to rush towards her.

"Only Ivan..." Betty said, grossly.

"Oh.." Kate said, depressed... "Him." She lowered her arms. "I... I should've just told you."

"You could've just asked me, ya know?!"

"You seemed to be having success... getting over me..." The hurt in Kate rose up a bit and she remembered all the feelings she was feeling at dinner. She suddenly needed to sit down. She walked back to the bed and sat with her back to Betty on the edge of the bed.

"I guess I'm good at pretending." Betty said, causing Kate to smile inwardly.

"What about that girl tonight." Betty felt a sharp pain in her stomach. How could she really explain Teresa to Kate. She didn't even know what was going on there herself.

"We... we did something tonight. She was with me here and .. well.. It was just like Ivan.. in the car.. only. I liked it." Kate felt a blow to her gut, she leaned over and gasped.

"Kate?!" Betty said, running over to her. She grabbed a glass off the nightstand and offered it to Kate. It was filled with whiskey but Kate downed it in one gulp. Betty held onto Kate's knees, looking up at her from the ground. Kate couldn't help but see one of Betty's breasts, she gasped and scrambled away from her.

"So. You're happy then. you're happy now."

"Kate?! Do I look happy to you?!" Kate was scrambling to pick her clothes up off the ground. She had stollen a nightgown of Betty's and was wearing it for the smell. But now she wanted to be sick just like before in the diner. Tears flooded her eyes and she ran to the door but Betty stopped her, gently pushing her back towards the bed. She was sick of not knowing what Kate was feeling. That stunt in the bed, she couldn't rationalize it. She needed for Kate to speak her mind and she needed for Kate to know what she was feeling.

"I... I can't believe."

"I couldn't wait for you. I thought you wanted to be with Ivan. I thought you were beginning to hate me. What did you want me to do?!" Betty said, desperately. Kate sat back down on the bed but she had no intention of staying.

"I'm so stupid. I thought I was the only girl that you... I thought.." Kate threw herself onto the pillow, rolling away from Betty, crying into the night, a heavy heaping cry, louder than Betty had ever heard.

"Kate... I love you... I've always loved you... With Ivan... With Teresa... It's always been about you..." Betty said, sitting next to Kate's body and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"With.. Teresa..." Kate said, through her tears.

"I just wanted something to happen."

"Don't you think that I wanted for something to happen?!"

"With Ivan?"

"No... well.. yes! No..." Kate was trying to make sense of her actions but she couldn't. Things that made sense before didn't matter now. She had somehow convinced herself that she was dating Ivan for herself but now she doesn't know why she was dating him.

"You weren't ready... When I kissed you... I ruined everything." The thought saddened her.

"Don't. Don't say that now. You did kiss me. That's all that matters."

"You hated me."

"I never hated you." Kate said, sitting up. No matter how much pain she had felt in the past few months, her only source of happiness came from the moment when she was thinking about Betty and how good Betty had always been to her, and for no reason.

"You've always been special... to me Betty." Kate continued. Simply telling Betty that she didn't hate her just didn't feel like enough to her. Betty didn't know what to say so Kate went on. "You're the only person who has ever loved me unconditionally. You helped me when i had no one, and then you helped me when I had many people. It seems you're always helping me." Betty smiled. "Why do you do that?!" Kate asked, turning to Betty with a mixed expression on her face.

"What?"

"Why do you help me? You watch me... You know when trouble is about to find me. You're always there."

"I love you Kate... It's what you do when you love some one." Betty over stepped, not knowing how else to explain it.

"Then.. do I?" She asked. Thinking about it for the very first time. "Do I help you like that?"

"Sometimes." Betty smiled. "Sometimes I'll be having the worst day and you'll save me just a little. Like when the bombs hit me in the factory that day with Vera. Or when your father took you away and you stopped me from running after you."

"God... those were horrible times..." Kate thought about it some more. "Do you think people know about me. About how I feel... about you.."

"You mean, other than Gladys?" They both laughed loudly. Kate wiped the tears from her face.

"I don't think so. I mean. I don't even know about you, Kate. You're different."

"You know about me..." Kate said with a soft smile that made her feel warm inside.

"No I don't.. not really." Betty said, feeling sad to admit it. "Sometimes I think I know.. but then things happen and I don't."

"You make me sound confusing..."

"You are confusing." A long pause followed this admission.

"What do you think I know about you?" Betty asked. If there was one way to clear the air and get a few solid facts, this would be it.

"You know that you're my favorite person in the whole world." Kate began, looking to Betty for approval with each fact she listed. "You were the first to know my secret, the first to know my name." She smiled. "You know that when you kissed me I over reacted and chased you away from me." Betty smirked too this time. "You know that I never wanted to leave you.. if it wasn't for my mother, I-..." She went on, her smile dissolving into retrospection. "You know that I want us to be a pair." She said this more seriously, as if setting out rules. "That I want to do what you do and be what you are..." She went on. The muddy water of understanding began to get muddier instead of turning clear for Betty so she interrupted impatiently.

"But do you love me, Kate?!" Betty asked.

"Of course I love you!" Kate said, feeling insulted, a blush forming in her cheeks. What a thing for a woman to ask, she thought to herself in a very amused and flattered way.

"As a friend."

"Yes! You know this!" Kate said, indignantly but still amused.

"Just as a friend." Betty finished. This was the only question she was confused about, the only question that could make or break her.

"No Betty... More than a friend." Kate moved next to Betty and took her hand in her own. They were almost sitting like they had been at the piano on that day with the kiss. Kate looked at Betty and began to ponder something, which made Betty nervous. This was the most Kate had spoken to her in a very long time. In all honesty Betty was scared about what Kate was about to say. Kate looked all around her, excited, she had decided on what she should do.

"I want to kiss you Betty. Properly." She said. She leaned in for a moment and then pulled away covering her mouth, smiling. "No! I can't. Not yet... wait!" She shouted jumping up from the bed. Betty watched in amusement as Kate danced around the room, building up the courage.

"You want to kiss me? Why?!" Betty said, laughing. "We tried that once, it didn't go over too well."

"I wasn't ready!" Kate shouted, "I'm ready now," she said, hiding a smile.

"I'm not going to kiss you like this. You're getting to much enjoyment out of it."

"Well, what's it supposed to be like?! I'm supposed to enjoy it!"

"Yes," Betty said, standing up. Kate's smile simmered, she was at once worried and excited at what Betty was going to do. Betty walked towards her slowly, until she was holding her in her arms, close like they were going to dance. And before Kate could even react Betty had moved her to one side, hugging her to herself. She began to dance with her.

"But, there's no music..." Kate said, smiling. She felt safe in Betty's arms.

"You don't hear it?" Betty asked. The dance was very slow. Betty was breathing heavily and so was Kate, they tried not to feel the intensity of the moment but Kate was about to explode with her feelings. Her eyes searched Betty's, they were wanting. And Betty met her gaze, holding her there, not allowing her to think and leaning in once again to enjoy a slow and magical kiss. A kiss that turned Kate's chest the color red and gave her a fast beating heart and no room in which to breath. Kate let it happen this time, she let Betty taste her. When Betty pulled away, she didn't push her or say a thing, she simply breathed heavily and shut her eyes, allowing herself to feel what had just happened, to feel it intimately, in the arms of Betty McRae.

"Is that what you've been wanting?" Betty asked, unsure of how this would go over.

"No..." Kate said, still dancing in Betty's arms.

"Well, what then-" Betty began but Kate pulled the blonde into her until they were kissing again. This time it was Kate who was leading the charge. Her eyes were shut and mouth was slow but she felt her heart speed up and her mind slow until it was almost non-responsive. Betty just hung there, moving in towards Kate until her forehead rested on Kate's neck.

"Thank you..." Kate said... holding Betty in her arms. She began to hum again, that same Billie Holiday tune and they swayed for a long time, stopping often to kiss one another, until they decided that sleep was in order and they cuddled up on the bed, Kate holding Betty in the way that she always had.


End file.
